Office coffee machine rental: a complete guide for workplaces

Renting an office coffee machine gives you the right machine for your team plus the servicing to keep it running, for a fixed regular payment and no large upfront cost. It is a simple way to give staff and visitors good coffee without buying a machine outright or worrying about repairs. This guide covers how to choose the right machine for your office, what a rental plan includes, and how renting compares with buying.

How much coffee will your office get through?

A quick way to size a machine is to work from headcount. People in UK workplaces drink roughly two cups a day on average, so a team of fifty points to a machine that can handle around a hundred cups daily, with headroom for meetings and visitors. Think about peak times too, such as first thing and mid-afternoon, when demand bunches up. A machine that copes with your busiest hour will cope with the rest of the day comfortably.

What to look for in an office coffee machine

Beyond the type, a few things make an office machine easy to live with. Ease of use comes first, because in a self-service setting anyone should be able to make a drink without a lesson. A clear interface and simple drink selection matter more than a long list of options nobody uses.

Drink range is worth matching to your team. Most offices want the coffee-shop staples of americano, latte and cappuccino, and many machines add hot chocolate or a milk alternative for people who want them. Cleaning and upkeep is the practical one: automatic machines with self-cleaning cycles keep hygiene simple and take the daily burden off staff. And if your office is in a hard water area, water filtration protects both the taste and the machine, so it is worth having built in rather than added later.

Setting up and running your office coffee machine

Getting the machine in is only half the job. How it runs day to day decides whether people actually use it and whether it keeps working, so a few practical points are worth thinking through before you choose.

Installation and space come first. Most office machines need a nearby power supply and, for the better bean-to-cup and traditional models, a mains water connection and drainage rather than a fill-and-empty tank. Check the spot you have in mind has both, and enough room to open the machine for refilling and cleaning.

Consumables are the running cost people forget. Beans, milk or milk powder, cups and cleaning products are yours to buy, and the type of machine sets how much you get through. Bean-to-cup machines use fresh beans and either fresh or powdered milk, while pod machines tie you to particular capsules.

Cleaning and upkeep keep the coffee drinkable and the machine reliable. Automatic machines with self-cleaning and descaling cycles take most of that burden off staff, which matters in a self-service setting where no one owns the task. On a Rental+ plan the servicing side is covered, so scheduled maintenance and any repairs are handled for you rather than added to someone’s list.

Think too about who tops it up and who people ask when something is not working. A machine that is easy to refill and simple to operate will get used, while a fiddly one tends to sit idle. Matching the machine to how hands-on your team wants to be is as important as the coffee it makes.

Rent or buy an office coffee machine?

Buying ties up capital in a machine that then depreciates and needs servicing at your cost. Renting keeps that money in the business, includes the maintenance, and lets you change the machine as your team grows. For most offices the predictable, regular payment and the included servicing make renting the easier choice. We look at the trade-offs in full in our guide to renting vs buying commercial kitchen equipment.

Frequently Asked Questions